Your First Month

All full-time faculty and staff must enroll in a University healthcare plan or provide proof of alternate coverage within 31 days of hire.

Coverage for medical, dental, vision and reimbursement accounts will begin the first day of the month following your hire date (exception: coverage for employees hired on the first day of the month will begin on date of hire).

Benefit elections are effective January 1 through December 31 each year. Please review your benefit options and make your elections carefully – once coverage begins, changes in coverage can only be made during the annual Open Enrollment period (in Fall of each year) or when you experience a qualifying event such as marriage, the birth of a child, or other qualifying event.

1. Review your benefits

The University’s benefit plans will be discussed in your upcoming Onboarding sessions. Review the Benefits Summary Information webpage for links to comprehensive information to help you evaluate your options and make your elections, including:

Benefits Summary: A comprehensive list of University benefits with a brief description of each.

Benefits Guidebook: A decision guide to help you evaluate which benefits options are right for you.

2. Complete online enrollment and verify eligible dependents

Enrollment is a two-step process:

Step 1. Log in to the secure site to elect your benefits or waive coverage. Access MyBenefits via the My Resources tab in insideND or visit MyBenefits and login with your University NetID and password. View the New Enrollment Guide to help you navigate MyBenefits (PDF).

Step 2. If enrolling dependents such as a spouse or child, you must present documentation to the Office of Human Resources to verify each dependent’s relationship within 31 days of hire. This step should be completed following successful completion of your online benefits elections. Please review the University’s dependent verification page for a list of acceptable documents.

Review retirement options, verify eligibility, and make elections once eligible

Notre Dame’s retirement benefits programs are comprehensive and diverse, but understanding them is easy when you start with three basic questions:

Which program(s) are available to you (the mandatory retirement plan, the voluntary retirement plan)?

When do you become eligible (upon hire, after one year of service, or sometime in between)?

Once eligible, do you have choices to make?

1. Which programs are available to you?

Your employment status determines the program(s) available to you:

All staff participate in the University of Notre Dame 403(b) Mandatory Retirement Plan once eligible. Upon eligibility, an exempt employee contributes 5% of his/her regular salary to the plan, and the University contributes an additional 10% of that salary. More about the 403(b) Retirement Plan. (mandatory for faculty and exempt staff).

2. When do you become eligible?

Eligibility varies – review each plan to determine when you become eligible. For example: all employees may contribute to the 403(b) Retirement Plan (voluntary contribution) immediately upon hire, while participation in the 403(b) Retirement Plan (mandatory contribution) begins only after a period of service.

3. Once eligible, do you have choices to make?

Participants in the 403(b) Retirement Plan have options: Which investments are right for you? How much will you voluntarily contribute? Will voluntary contributions be pre-tax or Roth after-tax? Consider attending a one-on-one retirement planning session to help you make the choice that’s right for you.

Explore training and development opportunities

Training and development are important parts of your success here at Notre Dame. The Offices of Human Resources, Information Technologies, and Continuous Improvement offer a wide variety of classes to meet your needs.

The Office of Information Technologies (OIT) offers instructor-led courses on software applications and University systems, discounted access to the lynda.com online training site, and other training by request. More about OIT training programs

The Office of Continuous Improvement offers training programs to help you manage projects and improve internal processes.

Review vacation policies and report your time off

Vacation time begins to accrue immediately upon employment and is available for use after the completion of 90 days of employment.

Review pay check detail and payroll calendar

Review other University policies

A complete list of the University’s policies can be found at http://policy.nd.edu/. For answers to frequently asked questions, please refer to the Policy FAQs page. If you have additional questions, contact the University Policy Specialist at policy@nd.edu, or telephone (574) 631-6411.